Block Story Review

Taking a cue from games such as Minecraft and Terraria, MindBlock Studio brings forth Block Story a 3­D first person sand box world where one can have adventures, explore to find hidden cities, create great works and even shape the world to the players amusement. The player can even make epic monsters such as dragons to destroy the world created or have an epic battle to the death! Players will also find they level as they find special ores, battle monsters or simply explore and find new things. You are given so many points each level to place into stats such as mine faster, more health etc.

The controls for the game are the usual WASD to move about using the mouse pointer to have a look at your surroundings. Moving in Block Story can sometimes seem as if you bouncing around but eventually it smooths out. There is also a box with wings granting one flight for a limited time. Beware this uses mana. The number keys 1­7 are usable item slots where you would find your tools, weapons, food, and any blocks you happen to pick up. Q will open the inventory which has its own fun feature a help icon. Here you can drag a block and find out what it is, what can be done with such as its for such and such recipe or this is only for decoration. Tab is the use chosen item, space bar to jump etc. Hitting the esc button will bring up other options the game

To begin play a world must be named and created. Once the world is created its time to pick a profile and the type of game you want to play. Block Story has three styles to choose from. Story which is the normal survival mode where you can find quests, monsters, create things and if you die no player progress is lost, it also has tutorial quests to learn the game and gives that RPG setting some people crave. Creative mode you are granted all recipes, unlimited resources, tools health, mana and can not die. Hardcore starts out like Story only the monsters hit harder, have more HP and has penalties upon death.

Now that the mode has been chosen its time to explore. There are many different biomes Forest, Tundra, Beaches, Ice etc. Each biome has its own set of flora and fauna. In the forest one can find deer, horses, and spiders. In the water you can find a myriad of different fish watch out though sharks aren't the only hazard to be found in the sea. If you do find yourself enjoying a swim remember that you can only hold your breath for so long. Some of these biomes will hold special surprises such as a hidden city, or a strange NPC needing help. You could also encounter a boss monster intent on your doom! One never knows what they might find while exploring.

When you find a good spot to settle down its time to break down that tree and make a crafting table. Like the inventory tab the crafting table has a help icon and a set of known recipes. In Story and Hardcore some recipes have to be unlocked unlike creative where everything is available. Once you hit a tree a few times, get wood and create a crating table. One thing that will be noticed right away is that a pick is the only tool needed to chop trees and mine blocks. Once a pick is made it will have a number by it this is how many times it can be used before breaking a nice feature to have. Like many things the pick can be made from different ores. Each ore will have different benefits to the pick such as speed and how long they last. There a a couple different torches to be made, one stays in the hand and runs out eventually, the other can be placed. One can create alchemical recipes and monsters if desired. There are quite a few different and fun recipes to enjoy. One can also find that they can teleport themselves to each world they have created. Built a city and want to visit it again simply go to the crafting table, create the teleport stone and Ta Da! There you are.

Also in the game players will notice different color auras especially at night. These auras represent different creatures in the game. Yellow represents NPC which grant quests, or have things you can buy. Green represents passive animals in the game from deer to fish. Red means danger monsters about. When you find these auras you will also find spawn blocks depending on the creature found. These spawn blocks can be broken, carried around and placed at a desired spot. If you are tired of having to go find the NPC that sells swords take him with you. If you want to have little animals running around your house place the spawn box and let them come. If you want danger at every corner be prepared to fight over and over again once you place a monster spawn block and viola! Time to fight!

While the game is still in early access beta it still has the potential to grow to be an even more enjoyable game. Features will be added as time goes on. Some may find a few of the recipes to be difficult in that it takes so many of this or that resource to create. While this can be tedious in the long run it will be worth it so don’t give up on the game that easily. Get those creative juices flowing, that sense of adventure a chance, boot up Block Story and have a grand time.